The Red Violin
by Yasuko Stari
Summary: On Michiru's birthday Haruka has a special gift for her, but tragedy intervenes before she can give it to her.


The Red Violin

I do not own Sailor Moon or any of it's characters. This fic has nothing to do with the movie "The Red Violin", because I've never seen it. The song is by Jewel.

**__**

The Red Violin

*Turn to me your frozen lips

*Your hands are icy cold

*Your eyes burn bright against the frost-bit sky

*You never seemed more lovely than you do tonight

The room was warm against the chill March wind outside, the wind that was promising snow. Out the window of the spacious bedroom Haruka could see the gray clouds massing in the sky, but she tore her eyes from them to look at the woman in her arms, stroking her aqua hair gently with one hand. The wind was rough and Haruka felt a brief sense of unease, but she pushed it aside. It was Michiru's birthday and she wouldn't allow anything to dampen her spirits, or those of her beloved.

Michiru shifted in her arms, heavy-lidded blue eyes opening to gaze lovingly at her partner. In love and in battle. Countless times had they fought together. But that was in the past. Now, with Setsuna and Hotaru, they were becoming a family. Something Michiru had longed to have all her life. She'd always wanted to settle down with the one she loved and their children. Hotaru wasn't her biological daughter, but their relationship transcended blood bonds. She was as much her mother as the one who had died when she was young. Maybe more.

She felt Haruka stir beneath her and turned her head to look into her blond lover's gray eyes. She smiled and pulled the sheets over her chest. "Anything wrong?"

Haruka shook her head, then lowered her mouth and kissed Michiru softly. A kiss of passion, one of the many they had shared that evening. The room melted away and with it Haruka felt her doubts seep away. Everything was fine.

*Pale on the horizon

*Like leaves frozen in the snow

*Our two shadows merge inseparably

*Will time stand still if it's pierced with cold

At last Haruka managed to pull herself from the warm arms of Michiru and rise from the bed. Wandering to the closet she dressed quickly, watched all the while by Michiru from under a set of knitted brows. Sitting up in bed, Michiru pulled the sheets to cover her chest and yawned. "Why do you have to go?"

"I told you, it's a birthday surprise Michiru," Haruka replied, as if she was scolding a small child. "I can't even tell you where I'm going."

Michiru sighed and rose from the bed, pulling the sheets in a loose robe around her naked form. She crossed the room to the violin stand and picked up the worn instrument, tucking it under her chin. Closing her eyes, she began to play "The Marine Cathedral" from memory. Her movements were effortless, graceful. Elegant. Haruka watched her aqua-haired goddess play, unable to move. She smiled as Michiru finished the piece.

"You're trying to manipulate me into staying. Lure me into your trap with your music," she said, smiling wide.

Michiru tilted her head to the side and gave an innocent, puzzled look. "Me? Manipulate? Never." She grinned. "But did it work? Will you stay?"

Haruka shook her head as she walked over to hug Michiru tightly. "I can't. I have to do this. But I'll be back as quick as I can."

Michiru pretended to pout and pulled Haruka in for one more kiss. "All right. But remember I love you and I'm waiting here for you to return."

"I'll be as fast as the wind," Haruka said with a smile. She loved Michiru so much. "I promise."

*The more I live

*The more I know

*What's simple is true

*I love you

Snow had begun to fall gently as Haruka left the house. Small powdery flakes drifted from the sky and in moments everything bore a light dusting of snow. The trees looked like the sugar cookies Makoto had brought over at the New Year.

As Haruka drove into downtown Tokyo she thought about the gift she had selected for Michiru. Her old violin was getting worn out, and she needed a new one. Haruka had been out shopping with Hotaru a week before when she'd seen the one she knew Michiru had to have. It was finely crafted of strong wood and finished with a red gloss that made it fairly glow with a reddish sheen. She knew Michiru would love it.

She pulled up to the shop and parked quickly, jumping from the car and dashing into the store. Shaking snow from her hair she walked to the counter and gave her name. The violin was in a silver gift-wrapped box and tied with an aqua bow. She smiled when she pictured Michiru opening the box and removing the violin, quickly paying for it and leaving the store.

The storm seemed to have worsened in the short time she was in the store and the windshield wipers were having a hard time trying to keep up with keeping the snow off the glass. Haruka drove slowly through the maelstrom, for once not thinking about speed. Her hands gripped the wheel and her eyes were narrowed in concentration as she crept along the street. The violin in its box in the backseat rattled as the wind buffeted the car, rocking it back and forth on the nearly deserted street.

Haruka never saw the car that hit her, the car that seemed to skid across the intersection in front of her even as she watched the light turn green and began to move forward. The only sounds she heard were the screech of tires on ice and the shattering of glass. Warm blood flowed from many wounds, but she never knew.

The moment the other car had struck hers there was a flash of pain and an instant of thought.

_Michiru_.

Then darkness.

*There's a warmth in my heart

*It haunts me when you're gone

*Mend me to your side and never let go

*Say 'Time knows nothing, we'll never grow cold'

When Haruka left Michiru had taken the time to take a quick shower. Sailing downstairs in a [air of close-fitting jeans and an aqua sweater she joined Setsuna and Hotaru, who were cleaning up in the kitchen. She caught a glance of the clock on the coffeepot. 9:00. Haruka had left at 8:30. No doubt the weather was holding her up.

At 10:00 Michiru was sitting at the kitchen table chewing nervously on her nails. Setsuna had sent Hotaru off to bed and now she sat watching Michiru. Her own hands were clasped tightly in her lap as she watched Michiru's eyes wander between the door to the kitchen and the clock.

When the doorbell rang it startled them both. Blue eyes locked with ruby ones as each sat thinking the same question: _Who's calling at this hour?_

Michiru reached the door first and pulled it open. A gust of bitter snow-filled wind announced the arrival of the policeman. At Michiru's word he stepped into the house and she shut the door behind him. Setsuna stood in the doorway leading to the kitchen, her body rigid with tension.

"Kaioh Michiru?"

"Hai," Michiru replied in a barely audible voice. "Haruka...?" came out in a cracked whisper as she hugged herself tightly, shivering suddenly.

"I'm very sorry Kaioh-san," the policeman began. "There was an accident downtown. The driver's side was hit by another car. The driver claims he lost control. I'm truly sorry Kaioh-san but..."

Michiru closed her eyes.

"...Tenoh Haruka is dead."

*The more I live

*The more I know

*What's simple is true

*I love you

There was silence. Then tears. Sobs. Screams. Her own? Or those of the young Soldier of Silence who had come running from her hiding place on the stairs to fling herself into Setsuna's arms. Michiru was numb. Cold. Her sweater felt thin against the wind that was suddenly rushing through the room. Did no one else feel it?

Blindly the Soldier of Water made her way into the kitchen, numb fingers scrabbling for the phone. Quickly she dialed the familiar number, and found the strength to put the phone to her ear. It rang. Once, twice, three times before someone answered.

"Tsukino residence."

"Usagi please." The voice she heard couldn't be hers.

Seconds, minutes, hours passed before she heard Usagi's voice. "Hello?"

"Usagi...you should come. Haruka...she..."

"Michiru-san? What's wrong? What's happened to Haruka?"

Silence. Then a hoarse voice whispering. "Haruka's dead."

She never knew what happened after that, before Usagi arrived. She only knew that her heart, which had been so warm hours before in Haruka's arms, was now cold. Ice. Yes, her heart was ice. That explained why she was so cold, so numb.

*Twilight descends on our silhouette

*How soon spring comes

*How soon spring forgets

*I wanna hold time, say it'll never happen

The night passed. A week? A month? No, just that night. Usagi came and soon after the others followed. There were tears. Not from her. The Soldier of Water with the heart of ice. She shed no tears. She felt dead. Cold. Her body was on autopilot as she sat through the long hours of the night.

The days slipped by, the funeral preparations handled by Setsuna. Michiru walked the house like a ghost, occasionally coming across something that reminded her of Haruka. A running shoe by the back door. An extra set of keys to the car she'd died in.

But she shed no tears.

The funeral day arrived. Michiru, somber and pale in a stiff black dress, her hair pulled into a tight ponytail, gave the eulogy. Many were weeping by the end. But not her. Not the soldier with the heart of ice. She said what she needed to say, and kissed Haruka's cold lips one last time before they closed the casket. She rode to the graveyard and endured the burial. At the end, light snow began to fall. But she who had once loved snow, and the snowball fights she would have with Haruka, merely got into Setsuna's car and waited for her fellow soldier to drive her and Hotaru home.

She hung her coat in the closet and climbed the stairs to her room slowly, mechanically. In her room she slipped out of her dress and unbound her hair, standing a moment in her white slip before turning to the closet. As she turned, her eyes caught on a silver gift-wrapped box tied with an aqua bow. Her brow furrowed in puzzlement.

"The police brought it earlier."

She turned to face Setsuna, who stood in the doorway in her black dress. "You were in the shower, so I had Hotaru-chan bring it up. You didn't notice it this morning."

"What is it?" Michiru asked in a monotone.

Setsuna dropped her ruby eyes to the floor. "I...don't know. The police only said it was in Haruka's car and somehow survived the crash."

Michiru turned to the box again and when she turned back to the door Setsuna was gone and the door was closed. Automatically she crossed to the box, her hands trembling as she reached for the bow. She shivered as she touched it, drawing her hand away again.

She walked to the closet and selected a dress. Pale, filmy purple. Lavender. Sleeveless, with a white sash around her waist. It had been one of Haruka's favorites. Her icy heart beat in her chest at the thought.

She crossed back to the box, staring at it. The silver paper. The aqua bow. Shaking, she forced herself to open it. Untie the bow. Tear the paper. Open the lid of the box and remove the top layer of tissue paper.

She gasped at what she saw. An exquisite violin, practically glowing with a reddish light. With trembling hands she lifted it and the bow from the box. A crack, a hairline crack, formed in the ice around her heart. She placed the violin under her chin and raised the bow. Gently she set the bow to the strings.

*Old man winter, be our friend

*Old man winter, be our friend

*'Cause the more I live

*The more I know

The faint strains of "The Marine Cathedral" floated through the room. The last song she'd ever played for Haruka. The notes were weak at first, then stronger and stronger. Slowly, the ice encasing her heart began to crack, to fragment. She played faster, with more passion, the music seeming to fly from her fingertips. A last tribute to Haruka, her love.

*What's simple is true

*What's simple is true

She finished the song. The ice around her heart shattered.

*I love, I love you

And the Soldier of Water cried.


End file.
